How is it some rights are protected and some not, some laws enforced and some not? Women farmers grow 70% of Africa’s food but often have few rights to land. Massive land grabs by elites and foreign corporations are making the situation worse. Inter Pares’ Jean Symes recently spoke on an expert panel to a conference about how Canada can support African women farmers to keep their land.

Swedish, US and Canadian pension funds have acquired farmlands in Brazil by way of a Brazilian businessman accused of using violence and fraud to displace small farmers. These pension funds are also using complex company structures that have the effect of evading Brazilian laws restricting foreign investments in farmland.

For two years, over 500 farmers from the different cotton-growing regions in Burkina Faso documented their experience with Monsanto’s Bt cotton. This three-year farmer-led research initiative, called “Bt Cotton and Us: The Truth from our Fields,” provides an important counterbalance, as Burkina Faso was the first country in West Africa to adopt genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and industry often lauds its success when promoting GMOs in other countries.

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About Inter Pares

The name Inter Pares means "among equals" in Latin, and reflects our belief in the equality of people, North and South. Inter Pares was founded in 1975 on a commitment to address conflict and injustice in Canada and around the world.